Challenge of the Planeswalkers
by Madness King
Summary: Rated T to be safe. Nathan is a college student who was introduced to the game of Magic by his brother, who has not been heard from in two years. Surprisingly, so does his teacher, Mr. Fulton. But after one game, Nathan will begin to see the world in a new way. New worlds, new possibilities, and new dangers will open up to him.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, I have yet another new story. Not only that, but yet ****_another _****story after this will be published. This was made a while ago (and by a while I mean around the start of the year) and it's been getting worked on ever since. It's already in it's fourth or fifth chapter, so I won't have to worry about not updating in a long time. But for now, R&R, PM, and Enjoy.**

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Chapter 1

"Here little bro, I got you this." Nathan was handed a small deck box, and he opened it. Dumping the contents into his hand, he found they were trading cards. "Keep these as a way of remembering me." Nathan looked up at his older brother, Justin, and thanked him for the cards. Justin had taught him how to play a few weeks ago, using one of his "test decks". Nathan often called them "junk decks" because he always lost when he used them.

But his brother always said, "It isn't about the cards, Nathan. The game is one part chance, one part skill, and one part heart. Take away any one of those, and you'll find yourself losing every time." That was two years ago, before Justin had to leave for college. Justin went to a four year art school, which accepted only the best artists and helped them get the best jobs; and to Nathan, Justin was the best. Justin had gotten Nathan into a lot of things before he left: TV shows, music, video games, and most of all, card games.

Nathan loved the game play and strategy, but loved the artwork more. Nathan played all sorts of games, but was dedicated to mastering Magic: The Gathering first. Before Justin left for college, Nathan promised he would practice and strengthen his deck, so that when he came back from college he could beat him. But just like how he left two years ago, no one had heard from him for two years. Even during the holiday seasons when he was required to leave the dorms, he never came back home. His mother thought he had already found a place to live, and was working on his own projects. But why didn't he contact them about the good news? Surely he would have done so when he moved in. Nathan sighed, right now that didn't matter.

Because now he was about to go to college himself. He would be going to a smaller, two year college, but he didn't mind. At least he would be able to graduate about the same time as his brother. Nathan was unloading his car, taking out a laundry basket filled with clothes. "Last one," he said to himself. He set the basket down on the sidewalk and closed his trunk. He picked the basket back up and carried it into the apartment room that he would be living in for the next two years. He had two other roommates, and they had already discussed the room arrangements. It was a four person-apartment so his roommates would share a room while Nathan got a room to himself.

He opened the apartment door and saw one of his roommates, Carter, stocking the fridge with the food we all purchased beforehand. Carter was a large guy, with short black hair and a beard. Nathan walked past the kitchen and went into his room. He set the basket down and began to hang them up in the closet or place them in the dresser. After getting all of his clothes put up, he took the empty laundry basket and slid it under his bed. He looked around his new room, which was a bit small. It still held two beds, one right next to the window and the other lined up against the same wall the window was. There were also two dressers, one next to the second bed and the other in the closet. On the second bed, since he had the room to himself, he had placed some of his stuff on top of it until he got everything put away.

He set the basket down and sat on his recently made bed. It felt odd to Nathan, being away from his home. But he pushed the sad feelings back, he was in college now. It was time to man up. He left his room and almost ran into his second roommate, Luke.

Luke was the kind of person you'd think would end up as a street punk, with messy, sometimes oddly cut, hair and tattoos that covered his entire right arm. His black hair was now in a mohawk style, but instead of standing straight up it was laying flat against the left side of his head, the rest of his hair starting to grow back. Nathan let Luke pass, and Luke wordlessly went out the door. Even though college was set to start the very next day, Nathan already knew Luke lived only a few miles away and he already had a job. What it was he couldn't say for sure, but his shift started in the afternoon.

He walked into the kitchen and asked Carter, "Hey, you finished?" Carter pulled his head out of the fridge, and nodded. "Your stuff is at the bottom," he said, pointing at the bottom drawers, "in those cabinets," he pointed his finger over to two cabinets above the sink, "and in here," he opened the freezer and Nathan walked over as he waved his finger back and forth along the bottom of the freezer.

"Alright, I'm gonna head out for a walk," Nathan said. Carter nodded, shutting the fridge doors. Nathan went to his room while Carter went to his, and Nathan pulled out some comfortable clothes. He put on black and white gym shorts, a white t-shirt with a black and white cross with wings design on the front, and a college cap he purchased during a college visit. It wasn't the same college he was currently going to, but it was one of his choices. Before leaving, he quickly dug through his bags and found his deckbox. He opened it to find his Magic deck in card sleeves. Theros had been out for a while, and his card sleeves were from Born of the Gods, depicting Xenagos ascending into godhood. He pocketed his cards and grabbed his keys for the apartment. He left his room and went out the door.

One of the good things about his college was that they provided an apartment for you, one that was part of a community reserved for students. And the best part was the school was right across from the apartments. Nathan exited the building and inhaled the already chilling air. He let out a breath and began walking. As he walked, he saw other students who were attending the college. His school was divided into three main programs: Business, Design and Technology, and Health Care. Nathan was in the Design and Technology program, more specifically the Design side. Nathan went to this college mainly as a stepping stone, to get some basic experience before he started going for bigger goals. Nathan looked around as he entered the rest of the community, entire families going about their day to day lives. There was a small lake that was surrounded by some of the apartments, and another smaller pond near the back with Willow trees.

Nathan took out his deck box and shifted through the cards. He noted the colors: black, red, and green, the colors of Jund. Nathan was more familiar with this deck type than anything else. He knew of Naya-red, green, and white-and Grixis-blue, black, and red-the most, and then learned about Bant-green, white, and blue-after purchasing a booster pack, but did not learn about Esper-white, blue, and black-until quite some time ago. He looked through his cards until he found one in particular; Flameblast Dragon. It was a powerful creature, with both power and toughness at five. It also had a decent ability, though he never used it before.

He slid the cards back into his deck box and continued walking until he reached his apartment building once again. He walked into his apartment and saw someone talking with Carter. He was a tall man, a few inches taller than Nathan, who wore business casual clothing along with a white trilby hat and a gray jacket slung over his shoulder. As soon as he entered, the man turned and Nathan got a better look at him. The man had pale skin, with a salt and pepper beard that ran along his jawline. He had light hazel eyes, a large nose, and he had short black hair in dreadlocks.

"You must be Nathan," the man said in a deep, slightly gruff voice. Nathan nodded and walked up to him, holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?"

"My name is Alexander Fulton. I'm a teacher at this college, and as I understand it you'll be one of my students." He shook Nathan's hand, and Nathan was trying to keep his hand firm. One thing he learned was the firm handshake, and how it made you look professional, but this guy was practically crushing his hand.

Fulton finally let go and said, "A strong grip you have there. That's a good sign." Nathan let go of the his hand, but Fulton still kept a good grip on him. Nathan looked at Fulton and saw he was staring at him, his eyes squinted like he was trying to see him better. Fulton finally let go of his hand and said, "Well, I guess I'll see you tommorrow." Nathan nodded and moved out of the way so Fulton could leave. He gave one last smile to Nathan before he left the apartment and Nathan closed the door behind him.

"Well that was weird," Carter said.

"Tell me about it," Nathan said, letting out a breath and leaning against the door.

"I think I'll turn in early." Nathan pushed off from the door and headed into his room. After closing the door to his room, he began digging through his bags until he found an alarm clock. He pulled it out and plugged it in, setting the time, about 8:30, and the alarm, 7:00. After that, he lied down on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

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**I know its a rough start, but trust me, it will pick up.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys. So I've decided to update this story, along with The Life of a Pirate again. I feel like just because it's the first chapter, neither of these stories have gotten much attention. I said that the story would pick up, and it should actually reach a small peak in chapter 3. I'm still trying to figure out some mechanics in my story, but I won't let you, my wonderful readers who I thank for taking the time to read my stories and have also inspired me to keep going, worry about that. Instead, all you just need to do is R&R, PM, and Enjoy!**

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Chapter 2

The next day, college had begun for Nathan. Nathan met all of his classmates, people who had similar interests as him. Alexander Fulton was their teacher, just like he said yesterday. He was wearing the white trilby hat and the gray jacket, both of which he took off after entering the room. Mr. Fulton started class off like most classes do on the first day; each student stood up, said their name and where they were from as well as one interesting thing about them. When it came to Nathan, he said his name, that he was from a small town in Indiana and that his brother influenced his college choice. Mr. Fulton nodded and the remaining introductions went by fast.

The rest of the day went by just as fast and they were dismissed early from class. Nathan, after gathering up his things into his bag, decided to hang back in the student lounge. He sat down at one of the circular tables and brought out his Magic deck, shifting through the cards once again.

"Hey," Nathan looked up and saw one of his classmates sit down in front of him. He was a skinny guy with sand blonde and streaks of dull red hair. He wore a red polo shirt and white dress pants. "You play the game?" Nathan nodded, and his classmate, Michael if he remembered his name correctly, pulled out his own deck box.

"Wanna play a round?" Nathan hesitated for a moment then nodded. The two began shuffling their decks and Nathan noticed Michael had a smug look on his face. "Before we begin, I'd like to know what deck type you'll be playing. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Nathan hesitated again, thinking about the pros and cons of telling him his deck, and finally said, "Jund deck."

Michael snickered a bit, and said, "Seriously? Three-color? Nobody uses those anymore, not since Return to Ravnica. But since you told me yours, my deck is a Rakdos Vampira." Nathan knew a Rakdos deck was a combination of Red and Black, two of his deck colors, and he guessed Vampira meant vampires. Nathan and Michael traded decks and cut them, then returned them.

Nathan drew his seven and asked, "Mulligan rules?"

"The first mulligan you can keep a hand of seven, but second and after you have to lower it by one." Nathan nodded and shuffled his hand into his deck again, then redrew. Michael did the same and smiled at his new hand. Nathan noticed some people were looking in their direction, and could have sworn he also saw Mr. Fulton in the mix.

"Okay, let's begin!"

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"N-No way!" Michael stared at the field layed out in front of him; Nathan had three creatures-Wildheart Invoker, Jungle Weaver, and Carrion Thrash-while he only had one tapped creature.

"I tap Kazandu Refuge and Rakdos Guildgate for two red mana and play Pyretic Ritual, giving me three red mana. Then, I use all three red mana and tap one Mountain and four Forests to activate Wildheart Invoker's ability. I give the power and toughness boost to Carrion Thrash and sweep for nine damage."

Michael groaned in disappointment as his remaining seven life dropped to zero. "Well, you beat me," Michael said. By the end of the game, quite a few students had gathered around the two to watch. "I must admit, you made a pretty good comeback. I almost had you." Michael had managed to reduce Nathan to five life before Nathan was able to bring out both Jungle Weaver, preventing Michael's Rakish Heir from using it's equipped Fleetfeather Sandals, and Wildheart Invoker in two turns.

"Well, that was a good game," Michael said, standing up to leave. "I'll see you around." The crowd of students also left as well, and Nathan began shuffling his deck again before putting it away. However, before he did, Mr. Fulton sat down in front of him, with his own Magic deck.

"Mind if I play you?" Nathan was surprised Mr. Fulton played Magic as well, and Nathan pulled his deck back out. While they were shuffling, Mr. Fulton said, "I overheard you used a Jund deck, so I should tell you that I play Mono-White." They cut each other's decks and drew their hands. Nathan looked at his hand and saw he only had three lands, and everything required at least four mana, so he redrew.

This time he came up with four lands, one of each, and nodded. Fulton brought out two 20-sided dice, one white and black, another blue and white, and gave the blue one to Nathan. "We roll to see who goes first." They rolled and Nathan came up with 12 while Fulton got a measly one.

"I'm going first," Nathan said. "I play a Swamp and end my turn." Fulton drew and looked over his cards. "I play Evolving Wilds, then I tap and sacrifice it to play a Plains." He pulled out the basic land and placed it in a tapped position, then shuffled his deck and ended his turn.

"Okay, my turn then. I add a Mountain and end my turn."

Fulton untapped and drew. "I'll also be adding a second Plains and end my turn as well."

Nathan sighed in relief, and began his turn, "A forest this time. I'll end once more." Nathan had so far only been getting lands, and he only had cards that required four mana. He had Wolfir Avenger, but he still needed one more Forest.

"I'll be adding my third Plains and I play Archetype of Courage (2/2). Now, all of my creatures have first strike and none of your creatures can have first strike as long as it's on the field." Nathan was slightly intimidated, but continued his turn.

"I play my second Forest, and then I tap both of my Forests and my Mountain for Wolfir Avenger (3/3)." Nathan smiled, since his creature was stronger Fulton wouldn't dare attack with his Archetype.

But Fulton had a smile on his face, "I add a fourth Plains, and then I tap all four to play Knight of Glory (2/1) and Lyev Decree." Fulton placed the Sorcery card on Wolfir Avenger, "Now, until my next turn, your creature can't attack or block. So I'll use the opportunity and attack with both creatures." Nathan's life dropped by four, and it was his turn.

He drew, another Forest, and smiled as well. "I'm afraid you underestimate me. I play a Swamp, then I tap one Mountain, both Swamps, and one Forest to play Lighting Elemental (4/1)." Fulton looked surprised at this, and Nathan continued, "Not only does this creature have four power, but it also has the ability Haste. I attack with Lightning Elemental." Since both of Fulton's creatures were tapped, he got a free shot at Fulton, bringing his life down to 16 as well.

Nathan ended his turn, and Fulton removed the Lyev Decree and untapped his creatures. "Very good Nathan, but I'm afraid you've also underestimated me as well. I play my fifth Plains and tap one for Ajani's Presence." Nathan looked at the card, he never heard of it before, and when he looked at the set symbol he didn't recognize it either. "This spell also has a special effect called Strive, where I can pay an additional mana cost to give the effect to more of my creatures. So I tap three more Plains to give both of my creatures +1/+1 and indestructible. Now, my Knight of Glory attacks. And since he's attacking alone, his Exalted ability activates bringing him up to 4 power and 3 toughness."

"I block with Wolfir Avenger." Nathan stopped the attack, but his creature died while the Knight remained.

"It's your move."

Nathan untapped and examined his hand: two Forests, a Mountain, and a Sorcery-Ranger's Path. _'With Archetype still standing, and his first strike ability, I can't risk attacking with Lightning Elemental. I need a creature on this draw.'_ He drew, and it was another Mountain. He sighed, and played it. "I tap both of my Forests and Mountains to Play Ranger's Path. This allows me to search my deck for two Forests and put them into play tapped." Nathan hoped that by shuffling, he could increase his chances of getting a creature next turn. "I end my turn."

Fulton untapped and played his sixth Plains. "I tap four to play Seraph of Dawn (2/4) and two to play Glory Seeker (2/2)." He tapped out all his mana to play two creatures, both powerful in their own right. "I attack with Archetype and my Knight."

"I don't guard." Nathan took the four damage and hoped this draw would yield something good. Another Mountain, and Nathan groaned in disbelief. "I play a Mountain and end my turn."

Fulton drew and looked at his two cards. "I play Evolving Wilds and sacrifice it to add another Plains. Then I tap five and activate Knight Watch, allowing me to play two 2/2 white Knight tokens with the ability vigilance onto the field. Now I attack with my four creatures for a total of eight damage."

"I block the Archetype with Lightning Elemental." Nathan knew it was a risk, but he stopped two damage.

"Also, Seraph of Dawn has lifelink, so I gain two life." Nathan's turn began, and he was hoping for something good. He drew quickly and peeked at the card. His eyes grew wide and a smile grew across his face.

"I play a Mountain." He slammed the card on the table, and Fulton knew he had drawn the card he needed. "I call upon the dragon lords of Jund to lend me their strength; come forth, Flameblast Dragon (5/5)!" He tapped the necessary mana and threw down his card.

Fulton was smiling, and said, "That was a lucky draw, but you've already lost. You might have your dragon lord but I have four creatures and two tokens, all of which have two power." Nathan's smile faded as he realized what he meant, "Which means no matter which creature I block, I'll still take 10 damage."

"And unfortunately, you only have six life left." Nathan's head dropped, and he lowered his hand to reveal the cards he had. Fulton looked at them and saw he only had two Forests in his hand. _'So that's why.'_

Fulton stood, taking his cards, and said, "Well Nathan, that was a good game. You had a bad hand, but you played well." Nathan nodded and collected his cards as well. Fulton extended his hand out to him and Nathan shook it. "I'll be expecting a rematch soon." Fulton pocketed his cards and left the building, and Nathan soon followed. Nathan saw Fulton head around a corner and continued to the dorms.

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As Fulton rounded the corner, he began to think about his match with Nathan and how it could have gone differently if Nathan had mulliganned again, or if he never mulliganned at all. A flash of light caught his attention and he turned to see a floating symbol covered in blue flames. He sighed, then smiled, and finally walked up to it. In another flash of light and a thundering boom, he was gone.

Darkness soon engulfed his vision, and he walked forward. He didn't need a light; he already knew the way. After walking for a few minutes, a voice broke the silence, "So you tested him." The voice was very low and gruff, almost like a growl.

Fulton stopped in his tracks and said, "Of course I did."

"And?" another, more younger sounding voice said.

"He put up a good fight, but he lost."

The first voice scoffed, "Of course he did. I told you he'd lose."

"He lost," Fulton retorted, "because he had a bad hand. He had three spells and four sources of mana, and every time he drew it was more mana. He didn't get a card that could save him until it was too late."

The voice became silent, and another, more feminine voice spoke, "I say we move on. He might have the gift, but there are more on that plane with greater control, greater potential."

"I believe he has potential as well, he just needs a push in the right direction. His spark needs to ignite."

There was silence for a moment, "If you believe in him," the second voice said, "then so will I."

The female voice sighed, and said, "So will I."

The first voice growled in defiance, "I do not believe. I will let my ax judge him for me."

Fulton sighed and said, "Very well then. I have a plan, but I will need to do this alone." He sensed the approval of the others and left in another flash of light.

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**I hoped you all enjoyed this new chapter. As always, R&R, PM, and see ya later!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, everyone. Here's where it starts to pick up. Hope you will all enjoy.**

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Chapter 3

Three weeks passed and Nathan's classes had been piling up the work, but no matter how much work he was assigned he always found a way to pull through. Mr. Fulton was impressed with Nathan's work, but he sensed that something was bothering him. He let him be though, thinking that the best thing for him was to let Nathan work out his problems on his own.

After classes let out, Fulton found Nathan at the same table, shuffling his deck. Fulton walked over to the table and sat down in front of him. He watched him shuffle his deck for a few minutes before he pulled out his own cards and began shuffling. They wordlessly exchanged decks and cut them, then returned them. They drew their hands of seven, Fulton keeping his while Nathan mulliganned. Fulton pulled out the same dice and they rolled. Nathan landed a three and Fulton landed a 16.

"I'll start things off," Fulton said, "with a Plains. I will then tap it for a Scroll of Avacyn. I end my turn."

Nathan drew, "I play Temple of Malice, and I get to scry one." He looked at the top card and placed it back on top. "My turn's over."

Fulton untapped and drew, "I play Evolving Wilds, and sacrifice it to give me a Plains. I will end my turn there."

"I play a Forest and end my turn."

Fulton laughed a bit, "This is turning out like our first match. I will add my third Plains and bring out a familiar face: Archetype of Courage (2/2). I end my turn."

"I'm afraid your Archetype won't be here for long." Fulton smiled a bit. "I play a Swamp, then I tap Temple of Malice for red mana and I tap my Forest and Swamp for two and play Heat Ray, dealing two damage to Archetype of Courage." Fulton smiled as he discarded his Archetype and Nathan ended his turn.

"I see your deck has improved."

"Not by much." Fulton raised an eyebrow at that, "the only change I made was trading Rakdos Guildgate for Temple of Malice."

"Ah, I see. Well, I believe it's my turn. I add a Plains and play the Crusader of Odric (1/1). I end my turn."

"Alright then," Nathan said as he drew, "I play Kazandu Refuge. I gain one life due to it's effect, and I end my turn." Fulton looked at his cards after drawing, trying to decide which card to play.

"I'll play my fifth Plains, and tap for five to play Knight Watch. As you know, this places two Knight tokens onto the field, but it also raises Crusader of Odrics power by one for each (3/3). I attack with the Crusader of Odric." Nathan's life dropped to 18, and he drew.

"I play a Mountain, and then I tap out to summon Fire Elemental (5/4)!" Nathan slammed the card down, like he did with Flameblast Dragon, and ended his turn.

As Fulton drew his card, he could see the determination in his eyes. Not a revenge kind of determination, but as if he were trying to redeem himself. "I add another Plains, and tap for five: two to play Vanguard's Shield, and three more to equip it to Crusader of Odric (3/6). It not only gives my Crusader a Toughness bonus, it also allows her to block two creatures at once. However, this puts her into a more defensive position, so I will end my turn."

"My move, I play a Swamp and then I tap out. I use two Swamps to play Drudge Skeletons and then I use the rest to play Ranger's Path, giving me two more tapped Forests. I end my turn."

"Very well, then I tap five to play Dictate of Heliod," another card Nathan had never seen before. "This is an enchantment, and it gives all my creatures an additional two power and toughness (5/8)(4/4)(4/4). I attack with all three of my creatures, for a total of 13 damage."

"I block one of your Knights with Fire Elemental, and I block Crusader of Odric with Drudge Skeletons." Both of Nathan's creatures and one of Fulton's Knight tokens were destroyed, and Nathan took only four damage.

"Your move." Nathan drew and saw it was one of his best cards.

"I tap out: four to play Skullmead Cauldron and four to play Wildheart Invoker (4/3)! Now, I tap the Cauldron and discard Valakut Fireboar to gain three life. I end my turn." Fulton saw Nathan's strategy already; he won't guard his attacks, and instead will wait until his next turn to activate his creature's ability and give it five power and toughness, enough to take out Crusader of Odric. However, the one card in his hand would change that.

He untapped and drew, "I tap three to play a second Crusader of Odric (5/5)(5/8). Next, I tap two to play Lyev Decree. Your creature is stopped, and I will sweep for 14. I end my turn." Nathan didn't seem to be fazed at all, and drew his card.

Fulton saw a smile on his face, "I tap out!" Fulton was surprised at this, he couldn't be stupid enough to activate his Invoker's ability now.

_'He must have had a high cost card in his hand that he's been saving.'_

"I play Slime Molding, which gives me a green Ooze creature token with seven power and toughness. And finally, I tap the Cauldron and discard a Mountain to regain three life, bringing me up to six. Your move." Fulton's smile was at it's widest as he removed the Lyev Decree and drew his next card.

"I must admit, I'm impressed. But now, I must end it. I attack with all three of my creatures."

"I block your Knight token with Wildheart Invoker and your unequipped Crusader with my Ooze token." Nathan's Invoker and Fulton's Knight and Crusader were destroyed, leaving only the Ooze token and the final Crusader (3/6).

"I end my turn."

Nathan untapped and drew, "I tap the Cauldron and discard a Mountain, and I attack with my Ooze!"

"I won't guard," Fulton said, taking the seven damage. "I must say it's a risky move to attack with no other creatures defending you. If I get another creature, or if I get a spell that can boost my Crusader's power, it's over you know." Nathan was unresponsive as Fulton drew. "A Plains. If you think you are safe, you're not." Nathan knew what was coming.

"I tap one of my Plains and sacrifice the Scroll of Avacyn. I was saving it until I got an Angel on the field, but oh well. I now get to draw one more card." Fulton drew, and sighed. He threw the card down, another Plains.

"Your move."

Nathan drew his next card and played it, "I tap Temple of Malice for black mana and Kazandu Refuge for red mana and play Drudge Skeletons. Next, I tap the Cauldron for one life. Now, I attack with my Ooze!"

"I won't guard." Fulton was now down to six life, just one point over Nathan's.

"It's my move," Fulton said. He picked up his card, and sighed. "I pass," he said, dropping another Plains card onto the table.

Nathan drew his last card and said, "I offer the mercy rule." Fulton looked up at Nathan, surprised that he would not deal the finishing blow. "It's obvious you aren't going to guard, so I'll call it game." Nathan extended his hand and Fulton stared at it, stroking his chin with his middle and pointer finger. Eventually, he smiled and shook it.

They collected their cards and Fulton said, "Nathan, let's take a walk." Nathan, in the past couple weeks, saw Mr. Fulton ask some of his classmates to take a walk with him, and it was usually to talk about problems that they were having or asking them about their work, but Nathan felt this would be different. They left the student lounge and they began walking towards the dorms.

"Nathan, what if I told you that Magic, the card game that we just played, was actually real?"

Nathan was silent for a moment before saying, "Part of me would want to say 'You're crazy', but another part of me would actually believe you."

"Is that so?"

Nathan nodded, "Ever since my brother introduced me to the game, I've looked at the world differently. I've been thinking about which parts of my hometown could produce certain types of mana, and I already believe in the theory of parallel universes."

"You are right, you know." Nathan looked at Mr. Fulton as they began walking along the sidewalk near the apartments. "Everything here produces some form of mana." He pointed to the pond behind the apartments, "That pond over there, although it has no island, produces blue mana. Those trees," he pointed at the trees to their left and the ones they passed under, "produce green mana. Even the grass and the buildings produce white mana."

Nathan stopped, "Wait a second, so you're telling me that Magic-the planes, mana, creatures-everything is real?" Mr. Fulton turned and nodded. Nathan released a sharp laugh, which turned into a guffaw. "Okay, I know I said that half of me would believe what you were saying, but right now my side of disbelief is showing." Nathan continued forward and Fulton stared at him, astounded.

"What if I told you that the dangers were real as well," Fulton said, trying to catch up with Nathan, "and that you had the potential to become a planeswalker."

"Puh-lease," Nathan said, turning, but continuing to walk backwards. "Me? A planeswalker? I know that there are only so many who can become planeswalkers, but why would it be me? Am I the only planeswalker here?"

"No, as a matter of fact there were more; others with the same potential as you, maybe even greater, but I came to you first."

"Oh oh oh, don't tell me, let me guess. I was chosen because I'm 'The Chosen One', the one destined to defeat Lilianna Vess, or-no wait-Nicol Bolas himself!" Nathan went into a fit of laughter, only enraging Fulton more.

"You are a planeswalker, and I chose you because I saw something great in you that no one else had."

"If I am a planeswalker, then why can't I planeswalk to Innistrad, or Theros?" Fulton became silent and Nathan nodded before turning to leave.

"Your spark has not ignited yet." Fulton said. Nathan stopped, tempted to turn around and tell him off. "But I know of a way to ignite it." Nathan realized his voice was very close, and before he could react, Fulton had grabbed him. Nathan struggled, but Fulton had an iron grip on him.

"Let me go!" Nathan shouted, hoping to at least attract some attention from the neighbors. "I will prove to you that I am right." A blue light surrounded them, and Nathan struggled harder to get loose, but it was too late. A large thundercrack sounded and darkness enveloped the both of them.

Nathan couldn't open his eyes, but he could feel immense pain. He screamed as the pain threatened to tear him apart, both physically and mentally. Before the pain could reach it's peak, Nathan felt a surge of heat, as well as spiritual and physical strength, and he pushed away from Fulton. He landed on the ground, hard stone colliding with him as he panted.

"You see!?" He shouted at Fulton, still partially blinded. "I'm not a planeswalker. Whatever you did just failed." He turned to walk away. "I'm going home Mr. Fulton. Not back to the apartments, back to my home. I qui-"

He ran into something, still a little blind, and fell over. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, and his vision soon returned. He looked up to see what he had bumped into, only to wish that he hadn't. The thing he ran into was a large creature with the upper half of a human and the lower half of an insect. It had four legs and two arms, and it wielded what appeared to be a halberd. The creature turned around to reveal and insect like face, and it hissed at Nathan.

It raised the halberd and prepared to strike Nathan, who raised an arm in defense, but a loud roar stopped it from attacking. The creature looked up, as did Nathan, to see a leonin leap over him. The leonin was white and it wielded a twin-bladed axe. The leonin growled, holding the ax up to the insect creature's neck, and it scurried away.

Nathan turned around to see Fulton was gone, only to hear his voice in front of him, "Are you alright Nathan?"

He looked at the leonin, who had his hand outstretched, and he responded, "Mr. Fulton?" The leonin nodded, and Nathan took his hand.

"My real name is Ajani Goldmane." Nathan looked at the axe again, and saw one blade was a different color than the other. The leonin grabbed Nathan and they climbed up the wall next to them until they reached the top. He set Nathan down, and he saw before him a vast city.

"Welcome to Ravnica."

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, but remember: we're not even at the climax yet. There are planes to visit, creatures to see, and planeswalkers to battle. As always, R&R, PM, and see ya later.**


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